


A beggar

by Airisu



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Original Work
Genre: Cliche, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Logic, I'm Bad At Tagging, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22927180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airisu/pseuds/Airisu
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a beggar.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	A beggar

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a school contest years ago. Yes, English isn't our native language, which explained "contest".
> 
> Anyway, enjoy^^.

Once upon a time, there was a beggar. Neither poor nor unemployed, he himself was born as Beggar by God. “You will be the kind which forever lacks everything and begs for anything,” He had said nonchalantly.

Also, without the concept of human or animal, God had been creating tons of different kinds and put them all into a little place He called Earth. Fairy, Princess, Stepmother, Monster, Thief, Monk, Dragon, Bird, Unicorn, etc. lived there together, day by day dedicating to God spectacular stories. God loved what He had done.

But there wasn’t much for a beggar to do in stories. In the first place, God thought He had created an interesting character which could do unexpected acts to the story. However, since the beggar lacked everything, he did not have any motivation or intention to do anything. Pathetic as he was, the beggar lived his ridiculously normal life. God was not happy seeing a creature He created became such boring kind. One day, He summoned the beggar.

“I was thinking of creating a new kind,” He started, “but the Earth is pretty crowded now, so I would have to eliminate an old one.” Stopped a little to let out a sign, He looked directly at his beggar, “that might be you, Beggar,” He finished.

The beggar looked at his feet for a while, then, said with a weak voice. “May I ask what kind of new character you would like, Sir?”

God smiled. “Well, in place of the one has nothing and needs everything, I think will be the one has everything but needs one thing. I still haven’t had a clear vision yet.”

“Can I… at least try to become that kind, Sir?” – the beggar begged.

God was surprised and overwhelmed with excitement. Although things like a character becoming another one hadn’t happened before, eventually, God accepted, because the beggar did what he do best – begged. 

“Beggar, you will go and search for only _a few things_ from everyone on Earth to become a new character, since the concept of _everything_ is boring and out of your reach,” He explained, “however, where and what those few things are is hidden.” He raised his hand a bit, “For a kind having nothing like you, the journey might be harsh, so I am granting you the very first thing: _wisdom_ ”.

With a flick of God’s fingers, a ring appeared on the beggar’s finger. The beggar became a wise beggar, knowing that he was not allowed to ask anything else and said: “A kind which has everything and lacks one thing is a pretty long name, Sir. Shall we give it a name?”

“Very good. Let’s call the kind Human. Well then, do your best becoming Human. Farewell, Beggar.”

***

Once got back to Earth, the wise beggar immediately went to a fairy’s house. It was not that hard for a wise kind to look for hidden places, he thought as he stopped in front of a wooden house in a far away forest. All he did was following a poisoned girl and there he was. The beggar was confused about the challenge. Begging God for this was out of nowhere, he recalled, but he knew he needed this. However, the only thing he had now was wisdom, not knowledge, so he had to ask the fairy for advice. Clenching the hand that had the ring of wisdom, the wise beggar knocked the door.

“That’s an interesting story, young man,” said the fairy as she stirred the blue liquid, which should be the antidote for the poor girl, inside the cauldron. “I would be glad to help you, but you know, this is a whole new kind of creature that even God himself has yet to acknowledge so I wonder what I could do, dear.”

 _She is so nice_ , he thought, impressed by the way the fairy used her words. He didn’t even have to beg. With the wisdom in hand, he asked: “May I, madam, ask what is it had God given you? Was it magic?”

The fairy did not turn back as she was taking care of the girl. “That’s not quite right, dear. God gave me _kindness_. Magic is merely the power that I have learned to help others.”

It was the most tender thing the beggar had ever heard in his life.

Once the fairy had done with the treatment, she faced the beggar and smiled. “My son, since _kindness_ is not something can be taught or made into remedy, I will try lending it to you, through a spell though.”

The spell was that the fairy could only lend him a bit of her kindness. And when the time comes, she will take it back for a while.

“When does that time come, madam?”, the beggar asked.

“That’s the secret of God, dear. After all, we’re just characters in his stories,” she said with such a soft voice that sounded like she was telling a secret. Then, she used her magic wand to cast the spell to his heart.

With the wisdom in hand and kindness in heart, the beggar continued his search.

***

By the kindness he borrowed, the beggar realized in this world lived many bad kinds, which also were created by God. Therefore, to protect himself, he needed _strength_. He decided to look for the monster - the strongest kind on Earth. The advice the fairy gave him was that God wanted a kind with everything, which meant that Human was neither good nor bad. He thus needed to widen the scope. He decided to go to the biggest swamp deep inside the forest to find the strongest monster.

The monster was an ugly muted creature with a big axe. That was why other kinds hated him. But when the beggar saw him, the monster was bleeding from an earlier fight with a prince. The beggar tried to help him. With wisdom, the beggar slowly approached the monster without causing any trouble. With kindness, he treated the monster the way the bad creature had never been treated, which gained the monster’s trust.

Unexpectedly, the monster wanted to repay him. The beggar once again told his story. The clumsy, soundless creature had no idea how to help his new friend but to ask him to stay at the swamp for a while until he figured it out. With the wisdom God granted, the beggar also gained patience. So, he stayed.

Staying with the lonely monster was the most peaceful time the beggar had ever had in his life, he must admit.

By friendship built in silence, the _strength_ of the monster was shared with him, through the axe. This strength took lots of his time, but at last, the farewell day had come. With the axe of strength on his shoulder, the beggar departed, knowing one day he would come back as Human. 

***

Thinking he had had enough from the forest, the beggar went back to the city.

No one noticed him since he was so different from before. Furthermore, most of the kinds were away since the newest story was about going to the end.

 _Only the villains are here_ , he noticed.

Not knowing what kind of things he could get from those characters, the beggar wandered around the city and stopped by a church. Although it was the closest place to God, the beggar didn’t intend to ask Him for direction. He just had never been inside a church before. He never knew he could meet a typical bad kind in there, the stepmother.

“What could have brought you here, to the closest place to God, madam?” he asked.

The stepmother laughed, “Young man, that should be my question.” She observed him, from tip to toe. “You look like a good new kind, with strength, wisdom and even kindness. What are you doing here, on the day of happy ever after?”

“I’m still an incomplete one, madam,” the beggar said as he sat down, ready to once again tell her the story.

She didn’t have to hear it to jump to conclusion. “Well then, do you want something God gave me to complete your character, new kind?”

The beggar hesitated as she continued, “God gave me _hatred, jealousy, and incredulity_. That’s quite a lot right? So I always want to spread them out.”

The stepmother unconsciously smiled the most innocent smile she ever had.

The beggar accepted, not because of the smile of course. He knew God wanted an interesting character, so he dared to be one.

In the sight of God, the stepmother gave him a red apple. Within a bite, hatred, jealousy, and incredulity drifted down and melted in his stomach. Immediately, he felt the rise of the power the monster shared with him and the missing of the kindness the fairy lent him.

 _So the time just came, huh,_ the beggar smirked, putting the half-eaten apple in the bag. Having said goodbye to the stepmother, he left for God. This must be enough for an interesting story, he believed.

***

On the way back to God, the beggar saw a ruin which before must had been a very high castle. The top of it was still in good shape so the beggar decided to spend a night there. He had to be ready to present in front of God as Human.

Stepped over the debris, he got inside. By then, kindness had returned to him as soon as he realized it was not a castle but a prison. A broken prison for an imprisoned thief. The thief slept there, in the corner of the messy old room, peacefully, as if it wasn’t a prison where he stayed. The movement he made to break into the prison woke the thief up.

Both being kinds with wisdom, they quickly had a good conversation. The thief was locked in there because he had stolen the crown from a newly crowned prince, who, as the thief said, cared about nothing but his princess.

“It was a pretty big case at the time. And they did build this whole thing up just to lock me inside,” the thief said proudly.

However, once the story ended, the day of happy ever after came, no one cared about him anymore. He didn’t have much to do aside from dreaming on a ruin.

“As a character,” he said, “I can’t die even when I was forgotten. You’re a lucky man, Beggar.”

Indeed, in return, the beggar told his story. He also asked the thief to call him Human but the other refused. “I think it isn’t enough, man,” the forgotten theif explained with the wisdom he gained from his stealing so-called career.

Unlike the granted wisdom of the beggar, the thief’s wisdom was the result of what God gave him: _greed_. “It’s more applicable than yours, you know,” he said. So the beggar asked him if he could have some greed.

The thief thought for a while then agreed.

“It was boring staying here. But I wouldn’t ask you to bring me out with that strength,” he said gazing at the axe. “I want to see an amazing story, something that I can’t see even in my wildest dream.”

The beggar wondered why a greedy thief sounded so much like the God created them.

Then he gave him the mighty crown from the story, which contained all the greed and dreams the thief had had in his entire life. It was the shiniest thing the beggar had ever seen in his life.

Putting it into the bag with the half-eaten apple, the beggar left in hurry and joy. On his way out, the wise thief now with no greed asked “Didn’t you forget something, Beggar?” but the beggar was so urgent to meet God that he didn’t hear it.

From that day on, people started to call the mysterious wise kind without any greed Philosopher.

***

It didn’t take long for the beggar to get to God.

He showed all the five things he had gained, consisting of the ring of wisdom, the spell of kindness, the axe of strength, the apple of cruelty and the crown of greed. God was very pleased.

“Those are exactly the hidden few things Human needs, Beggar,” He said, “But my son, what is the _one thing_ you need?”

The beggar looked troubled, knowing he had made a big mistake. As a former beggar, he only cared about the things to gain, how could he even find the thing that he needed to long for yet to have? He hadn’t forgotten God’s words, since he himself had had to tell their conversation over and over. He just didn’t get it.

God felt sorry for him, since the beggar had tried so hard for this. Even so, God couldn’t reveal that one thing to him. He sent the beggar back to Earth, letting him be a wise beggar still.

The beggar sadly redid his very journey to return all the things he asked for, starting with the ruin. The thief, who was then a philosopher, politely refused to take the crown.

“I don’t need it anymore. And don’t worry my friend, the story has yet to begin," he said to the beggar as seeing him off.

The beggar headed to the city. Of course, the stepmother didn’t accept a half-eaten apple, and she was busy with the new story.

Then he brought himself to the far away forest, looking for his monster friend. But the monster was dead, killed by a knight. The beggar had never felt so lonely before.

He decided to go to the fairy’s house to put off the spell before he returned to the swamp and lived a boring life until he disappears. Or be forgotten, whichever comes first.

Welcomed him was the smell of herb like before.

The fairy listened attentively to his failed journey, sometimes carelessly exclaimed “oh dear”, “oh my poor child” like a true fairy godmother she was. When he told her his intention, the fairy stood up, smiled gently and approached him. “Young man, you don’t have to torture yourself like that,” she said, “God didn’t take the ring back. He gave you a chance, to see the world and look for what you need. Don’t waste it!”

“But I don’t know what I need, madam,” he said helplessly, “and as a beggar, I believe I have seen enough of this world.”

The fairy shook her head, “I can’t tell you what to do dear, but if you’re lonely, seek for _un-lone-li-ness_.”

 _Unloneliness_ , he wondered if that was what God required. _No,_ with all the other few things are at least in cetain shapes or forms, this particular one thing can’t be that vague, he concluded. But this was the only clue he had had so far.

In the end, the fairy didn’t take the spell back, unsurprisingly.

Feeling lost, the beggar wandered around, watching stories. Being a watcher, he didn’t use any of the few things he collected. Being a loner, he didn’t beg for anything but _unloneliness_. Day by day, he defined _unloneliness_ as the only thing which can rescue him from loneliness.

As time went by, people started to call what the lonely beggar looking for _love_. The beggar sought for love so desperately he used up all the things he had gathered to own it. Wisdom, Kindness, Strength, Hatred, Jealousy, Incredulity, Greed and so many more things he gained in the process. By that, he dedicated to God the most spectacular stories He had ever seen.

After a long tiring time, the beggar stopped all his act and returned to his pitifully normal life. The lonely beggar who seeked for love now was so tired that he could only beg.

He lived the rest of his life as a beggar begging for love – which was perfectly just like a human.

**Author's Note:**

> I had thought about putting the context of this story at the beginning but decided leave it here so we can have some more natural (?) experience (maybe?).
> 
> As I said, I wrote this cliché story a few years back when I was nice and life was good. I found it recently and decided to put it here.
> 
> The contest was to write a fairy tale with given elements in English. These are the elements:  
> \- Ending: He lived the rest of his life as a beggar… which was perfectly just...  
> \- Character: Monster, Fairy, Thief, Beggar, Stepmother  
> \- Thing: Ring, Axe, Crown, Cauldron, Spell  
> \- Event: Imprisoned, Someone is hurt, This is revealed  
> \- Place: Swamp, Ruin, Church  
> \- Aspect: Hidden, Poisoned, Far away
> 
> That's why at sone point the story got unnatural and many random objects just... appeared (since I'm not that good with linking stuffs). If you kindly re-read it, you may notice some required elements were put there just for the sake of it and don't have important meaning anyway. But hey, fairy tale logic ;)
> 
> Soooo, first story ever on AO3, please feel free to share your thoughts on this story.


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